Latest Monster Licks

In this Monster Lick Unleashed, I'm using the diminished 7th scale in the key of E. The notes used in the scale are E, G, Bb and C#. I particularly love this scale for the intense sound it creates when played fast or slow. This scale is perfect to use in combination with the pentatonic.

Players often will combine lots of different modes, etc., to their soloing. I do the same but with a different approach; I base everything around the pentatonic, so instead of playing modes, I simply add the notes to the pentatonic. This way, I always have that rock base behind the sound.

Many of us fall into the trap of practicing the same old stuff over and over again. This is why so many players find they hit a point where they don't get better. This has nothing to do with age or physical limitations; it's because they are not practicing or challenging themselves. They are doing nothing but maintaining.

In this Monster Lick, I'm incorporating the diminished 7th scale in the key of E minor. Don’t be fooled by the way I'm playing this lick. I'm targeting a heavy sound and style, but you can just as easily use this combination for blues or jazz. You should be able to hear these qualities in the lick when you watch the slow demonstration in the video below.

This scale is one of my favorites to use in conjunction with the minor pentatonic in the relative key. It creates tonal space while giving your solos and runs a very intense element, which is essential for heavier styles of music. The techniques used in this lick are legato and tapping. The tapping approach isn't the normal or traditional approach to tapping.

I use this particular variation of the scale a lot, especially when Im creating melodies that need to have a bit of "cheek" about them. This sound reminds me of something Steve Vai would use. The character Steve injects into his playing is genius, and this is a way (tonally) that I've found that helps me capture a bit of that.

In this Monster Lick, I'm using a variation of the G pentatonic scale. The scales used are the flat five (or blues scale), major 3rd and major 6th pentatonic. This is achieved simply by adding the above scale tones to the standard minor pentatonic. The notes in the G minor pentatonic are G, Bb (or A#), C, D, F. The flat five is a Db (or C#), the major 3rd is a B and the major 6th is an E.

The interesting thing here is that I'm using a combination of the major 3rd (C#) and the flat 5 (D#). When you analyze this, you see this creates a chromatic run starting from the C note moving through to the E. This is a valuable thing to note, especially if you're applying this kind if approach to fusion, blues or jazz.

This lick is a real showcase of how you can create legato runs using the pentatonic. Predominantly, legato patterns within the pentatonic consist of two-note-per-string pulls and hammers. I like to adopt a combination of this with a wide intervalic approach to add an extra note to the patterns.

There's nothing new to this approach. Blues players have been adding these notes to the basic pentatonic for eons. But the difference here is that I apply this system to a heavy/hard-rock style of playing. I do this with a combination of sweeps and legato, which creates a very hard-edge modern sound while still keeping the blues tonality.